Hand brake for railway cars



sept. 18, 192s. 1,684,505 y J. F. OCONNOR HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed'maron e. 1922 2 sheets-sheet 1 sept. 1s, 192s; 1,684,505

J. F. O CONNOR HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS ffy lllmlll f ///////////////////////7//)7//////l// Patented Sept. 18, 1928. y'

unirse stares Y inserat-'f Artnr orties.

JOHN F. oiconnoa, on' CHICAGO, immers, Assisnon, nr -Mnsnn ASSIGNMENTS, Tow. H. Minne, rnc., A conronarren or DELAWARE.

HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Application' filed March 6,

This invention relates to improvements in hand brakes for railway cars.

The standard practice for many years on Jfreight cars with respect to the hand brakes has included the use et a vertical brake stati passing through a small platform or step for i the brak-eman and with a hand wheel at the top thereof.l To hold the staff against rotation in an unwinding direction, it has been customary to employ a latch wheel located immediately above the stepand with which cooperates a dog manipulated by the brakemansi foot. Said type of brake is unsatisfactory and more or less dangerous to the brakemanl on account of the fact that he is required to use both hands on the hand wheel in applying the brake,v thus leaving him without adequate support or balance, in the event of` accident to any part, or sudden loss of his-hold upon the hand wheel.

During the last few years, there has been aA gradual change from the old hand wheel vertical staff type oi' brake toa brake of the ratch'etingl type ywhich permits the brakeman to employ one hand in effecting the windingl upl of the brake chain vand leaves him `free to use: the other hand to grasp ahand grip on: the car.

In makingthe change from the old practice to thel more modern practice,- it is de-A sirabl-ev that as much oi the old equipment be re-employed as possible, in order tol reduce'expenditures of the railroads and without sacriceof any ofthe advantages of the more modern type of brake of the ratcheting type.

Theobjectl of my invention is to providev an arrangement for verticalwsta? types of. han-d brakes for railway cars, which vis relatively inexpensive and which may be substituted. for. the usual hand wheel so that the origina-l brake stal, latch wheel and lockingy dog, may be re-employed while at the same' time allowing theV brakeman always to' utilize one handin supporting himself on. the' car.`

-lnE the drawings `forming a part of this specification,l Figure 1 is a part horizontal, sectional view, part top'pl'anv of a portion of a car showing, my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a vertical, sectional view, corresponding substantially to thev line" 2-2 of kFigure 1'. Figure 3l is a. herizontal,l sectional: View, corresponding tok 1922. Serial No1 541,314'.

the section line 3 3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 1s a View similar to Figure 1, illustrating another embodiment olil the invention. And Figure y5 is aA vertical,'sectional view, ,cors responding to the section line 5 5 of Figure Referring iirst to the construction illustrated in Figures1,2 and 3, 10 denotesathe end wall of av car, 11 the usual brakemans step or small platform on the end wall, 12 the. usual vertical brake staii, the usual ,latch wheel. keyed or splined to the staff,

andV 14 the usual. pivotally mounted 'ootoperated locking dog cooperable with thef latch. wheel.` Y

linlieu of the usual` hand wheel and the usual bearing bracket for the upper end of` the staff,l I substitute the following arrange-- ment., Secured to the Vwall 1() of the car isa combined housing and bearing bracket designate'd. generally by the reference A, the same having a back wall 1.5 riveted'to the wall 10 ofA the car, a top horizontally extendingwallg16 and a lower horizontally extending wall 17,- together with vertically extend-- ing webs 1.8v and 19 which terminate at the points 20 and 21, respectively, so as to' leave an arc of a little more than. 90 for. the oscillating movements ot thel operating handle and: associatedv parts As isclear from an inspection of Figure 2, the upper and lower lags 16k and 17 provide bearings Jfor the sa Keyedor otherwise. rigidly secured to the staff 12, midway between the walls 16 and 17, is ay friction drum 22 having a series of V-shaped ribs 23' extendingV annulariiy therearound.

Oscillatably mounted on the staff 12Y at points above: and below theY drum 22,A `arelinks 24e and25, forming a carrier, to*y which is oscillatably connected a block 26 having upper and. lower vertically extending studs 27-27 entering corresponding bearing openings in said links 24 and 25. The block 26 is extended outwardly beyond thel periphery of. the curved walls 16v and 17 and has pivotally secured thereto by a horizontally exe ending pivot bolt 28,- a gravity drop handleA The block 26, as best indicated in Figure 1, is provided with a hub 30 arranged eccentricto the axis of thestuds .2T-27,. said ecv` centric hub: 30 fitting: within a corresponding.'

recess provided in a friction shoe l31, said recess being defined by two flanges 32-32 which encircle more than 180 of the circumference of the eccentric hub so that, upon oscillation of the block 27 about its pivotal mounting on the links 24 and 25, said friction shoe 31 will be positively moved inwardly and outwardly radially with respect to the drum 22. The shoe 31 extends through an arc of approximately 150o and is ribbed on its arcuate face as indicated at 33 to frictionally engage the ribs of the drum 22. y

In actualpractice, the eccentric Vhub 30 will vbe so positioned with respect to the pivotal axis of the block 26, that, as the operating handle or lever 29 is pulled toward the brakeman, that is, in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1, the eccentric hub 3() will move toward the axis of the staff and thereby press the shoe into tight frictional engagement with the drum and thus cause the drum and staff to be correspondingly rotated step by step, when the operating handle is swung in the opposite direction, in such manner as to oscillate the block 26 about its pivotal axis on the links 24 and 25, the eccentric hub 30 will be withdrawn or moved away from the drum, thus moving .thefriction shoe correspondingly and positively disengaging the friction shoe from the drum. As the drum and staff are rotated Vin a winding direction step by step, by what may be termed the ratcheting action, theyare held against reverse rotation by the foot-operated dog 14 being thrown into engagementwith the latch wheel 17.

l/Vith the arrangement shown, it will be seen that my improvements may be applied at comparatively small expense both for material and labor; I obtain the desirable ratcheting action; and also allow the brakeman to use one hand in supporting himself from the car. Furthermore, by employing the friction shoe 31 and friction drum 22, the brakernan is enabled to ease olf the brakes, thereby permitting him to spot the cars accurately.

Infthe arrangement shown in Figures `4v and 5, the staff 112 is journaled in a box-like housing or bracket A having a bottom wall Y 117, top wall 116, side walls 118 and 119 and an end wall 40. Only one journal bearing for the staif is provided, the same being by the bottom wall 117. As clearly shown in Figure 4, the box-like housing or bracket is eXtented at an angle from the wall 110 of the car and in a direction away from the position occupied by the brakeman, for the purpose hereinafter described.

Secured to the staff 112 within the housing A is a bevel gear 41 adapted tol cooperate with another bevel gear 42 mounted on a horizontall stud shaft 43, which is journaled at its inner end in a suitable bearing 44 of the housing A and at its outer Vend in a bearing 45 on the end wall 40.

Within the housing A', the shaft43 hasV other embodiment of my invention.

By introducing the bevel gears and ex-` tending the housing A and stud shaft 43 at an angle to the end wall of the car and in a direction away from the-brakeman, I am enabled to position the handle 129 conveniently forv the brakema-n and without crowding him while permitting him' to operate the brake by lifting the handle in a vertical plane instead of swinging it ina horizontal lane. Some brakeman prefer the so-calle pump handle type of ratchet brake in which the operating handle is moved up and down, inasmuch as it is thought that this allows the brakeman to use more force" -in applying the brake; With my arrangement, the brakeman may stand upon the usual step or platform and support himself from the car with one hand while using the other or righthand in operating the brake with ample clearance and freedom from danger.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner Vof carrying out the invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and Vmodifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a hand brake foi-railway cars yhaving a brake step, the combination with a vertical staff extending through the step and having a latch wheel secured thereto adjacent the step and a foot-controlled dog cooperable with the latch wheel; `of a bearing bracket for the upper end of the staff; and means for rotating said staff step by step including, a grooved friction drum, a carrier oscillatable aboutthe axislof the drum adjacent the latter, a grooved friction shoe cooperable with the drum, and an operating handle supported from said carrier and jacent the step and a foot-controlled dog cooperable With the latch Wheel; of a bearing bracket for the upper end of the stati; and means. for rotating said sta step by step including7 a friction drum, a carrier oscillatable about the aXis of the drum, a member provided Wit-h a gravity drop handle mounted on the carrier to oscillate about an axis parallel to the axis of the drum, said member hai/ing an eccentric section, and a friction shoe cooperable With the drum mounted on said eccentric section'.

3. In a hand brake for railway cars having a brake step, the combination with a vertical stall extending through the step and having a latch Wheel secured thereto adjacent the step and a ioot-controlled dog cooperablc with the latch Wheel; of a bearing bracket for the upper end of the staff; and

means for rotating said stai step by step including, a friction drum, a carrier oscillatable about the axis of the drum, a member mounted on the carrier to oscillate about an aXisparallel to the axis of the drum, said member having an eccentric section, and a friction shoe cooperable with the drum mounted on said eccentric section.

Li. In a hand brake for railway cars, the combination With a brake staff; oi means for rotating said staff in av direction to tighten the brakes, said means including a clutch element and an operating leverv mounted for swinging movement about the axis ot' said staff, said lever including a pivoted arm portion provided With an eccentric head coacting With said clutch element.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th day of Feb., 1922.

JOHN F. OCONNOR. 

